Air circulating or ventilating unit



April 21, 1953 R. D. JENKINS 2,635,524

ING UN 'r Filed April 4, 1949 2 sHEETs-sHEET 1 April 21, 1958 R. D. JENK'NS 2,635524 AIR CIRCULATING oR VENTILATING UNIT Filed April 4, 1949 2 sHEETs-SHET 2 Inventor i 2 32 Ralph D. Jenk/ns 30 By 2::MS

Patented Apr. 21, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AIR CIRCULATING OR VENTILATING UNIT Ralph D. Jenkins, Bruce, Wis;

Application Aprii4, 1949,.Serial*No. 85,335

(Cl.A 98-33) 2 Claims.

This invention relates generally to means' for air circulation, and more particularly toa portable air circulation unit comprised of a plurality of: tiered Sections, each section being tubular and interchangeable with the other sections, one section being equipped with a fanand other'sections being equipped with various types of vents, air filters, and air valve means.

A primary object of this invention is to provide an air circulating unit which can be easily transportecl. fromplacel to place. and used either with or'without a window opening.

Another object of this invention, ancillary to the preceding objects, is to provide an air'circulating unit which is ad-apt-able for use with various sir/;esv and, typesl of. Windows and other openings, the flexibletubular'adapter which is usedtc connect the unit with such aA window opening being easily detached and representing novel structure in itself.

Another ancil'lary object is to provide an air circulating unit which may be used to force circulation. of air within a space according to the positioning of the various Sections relatively to each other, and the positioning of the unit in the space being heated, cooled or simply ventilated.

'Still' another object of this invention,` touched on inthepreceding objects, is to provide means for removing the hot air from the top of a room, drawing air from another room. through. a' grate or the" like, or otherwise circula-tine` the air within a single room, it being understoodthat air leventually" exhausted by the fan can be drawnfrom either the top., bottom, or intermediate part of the, tieredsections, asv the needmay arise during the use ofV the device.

And a last object to bez mentioned speeifical-ly is to provide a device of the Character described herein whichv will be relatively inexpensive and practicable to manufacture, which is safe, simple and convenient to use, and which' will. give generally eificient and durable service.

With these objects definitely in view, this' invention resides in certain novel features 'of construction, combination and arrangement of elements and portions as will be hereinafter described in detail in the specification, particularly pointed out in the appended claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a three-dimensional view of the assembled device, with the fiexible tubular adapter removed;

Figure 2 is a similar view but showing a slightly different arrangement of the Sections;

Figura 3 is a Vertical sectional view, taken sub- 2v stantiallyupon the section line. 3-3 in Figure 1.;

Figure 4- is a horizontal sectional view. taken substantially on the line 4-4' of Figure 3.;

Figure 5 is a. diagrammatic view showing how the device isused to draw air from another room and to circulate this air within a room according to the desire of the operator;

Figures 6 andv "1 are somewhat diagrammatic views showing how this invention is used as in circulating the air withina room, and. exhausting Warm air from. the top of az room., respectively; and

Figure 8 is a view of the abovel mentioned adapter, the view beingV best thought of. as, a fragmentary top plan. vieu. with portions of. a wall with a window structure therein and. portions of the adapter being broken away and. the miderlying parts being. shown. in. horizontal; sec.- tion andin plan, in order to amplify the disclosure of this. invention- Similar characters of reference. designate similar or identical elements andportionsthroughont the specification .and throughout the different views of' the drawings.

Referring now to. the drawings in, detail., this inventi'on includes a plural'ity of tiered Sections indicatedl by the even numbers iii to 2.8.. These Sections need not all be different from. each other, but the section lil is represented' asfhaving :a base frame 35 of open construction., corner legs 32 which .may be of .angle iron secnred` to the base frame 3%). andv also secured to the main portion of the section ID; identified' by the same reference numera'l, in spaced relation to the base frame 35. 'The section lz is provided' with. an air filter comprised of any suitableV foraminous material ;M 'contained within a pair of Vertically spaced horzontal screens 3%' and 3B. The section if-i has air valve means incorporated there- With including a Vplurality of louvers 156 connected to and. Controlled by a manual control bar. 418 ex,- tending exteriorly of the. section Ii. In this connection,.it.may be. noted that thesections 1.2,.and .Hi may be .substantially duplicated. by the .sections li and 26, the section 24 having' an air filter comprised of the material 43 and screens 42 and 44, while the section 26 is equipped with a similar plurality of louvers 59 and control bar 52.

The sections lc, IB, 22, and 28 may all be similar, with the possible exception of the height thereof, while the section 2D is provided with a rotary fan 512, and a motor 56 therefor, the fan and motor being supported on a suitable bracket 58 and the fan having an outlet 6B leading to the exterior of the Sections. It will be noted that 'upon which the device rests.

each of the sections is formed with a seat on its upper end adapted to receive the lower end of another section. These seats may all be similar, and are indicated at 6| in Figure 3.

If reference be now had to Figure '7, and the Figure 8, it will be noted that a fiexible tubular adapter 62 is provided for use with this air circulating unit and as a part thereof. The adapter 62 has a smaller end 64 securable to the outlet B by means of a suitable clamp means E6. The larger end 88 of the adapter 62 is provided with a resilient extensible elongated member 'Ill which may be a coiled spring fixed within a hem on the larger end 88 of the adapter, and since the adapter is constructed of fiexible material, this larger end 88 may be considered as definitely extensible and contractable. Wire shape-retaining hoops 'H may be secured in spaced relation within the adapter. A plurality of pegs with heads, indicated at 12 in Figure 8, will be provided in a window frame 14 representing environment wherewith this invention will be used, the headed members or pegs 12 being positioned in spaced relation around the part of the window opening in the wall 16 which is to be connected with the adapter, and it may be noted that the window sashes 18 may be shifted as indicated in Figure 7 and the adapter connected to only a portion of the window, when this is de- In any case, the resilient fiexible elonsirable. gated member 10 within the larger end 68 of the adapter holds this larger end in proper relationship With the headed members 12, while allowing easy removal of the adapter from the window when necessary, as in the case of a storm.

Figure 6 represents the use of the invention in causing circulation of air in a room, by drawing air into the top and bottom of the tiered sections and expelling the air from the outlet 60 of the section 20, this last-mentioned section being positioned at the desired height from the floor In this instance, the sections |2 and 24 may be used to filter the air and the sections |4 and 26 will have their air valve means in open position. In Figure '7, a second use of the invention is represented, it being presumed that the Warm air is to be drawn from the top of a room and expelled through the adapter and through a window opening to the exterior of a building. In this instance, the section 26 will have its valve means open and the section H may have its valve means closed, and the section 20 will be positioned according to the height of the window above the floor upon which the unit rests.

I In Figure there is represented a use of this invention in which a fioor 80 is provided with openings 82 and 84, one or both of which may be stairways, and a space heater 86 is positioned beneath one of these openings, with this invention positioned immediately above this same one of the openings. The Warm air from the space heater 86 is then drawn into an upper room, circulated therethrough, and expelled to the other opening 84 for a return to the space heater 8G.

The operation of this invention will be understood, therefore, to be of a variable character, and the above example-s of how the device may be used are to be considered as illustrative rather than limiting. The operation of the various elements of the invention will be clearly understood from a consideration of the foregoing description of the mechanical details thereof, taken in connection with the drawings, and further description would appear to be unnecessary.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. An air circulating unit comprising a series of stacked tubular sections open at their ends for the passage of air into the Stack and including an intermediate relatlvely longest section having an air discharge in one side thereof and carrying within the same an exhaust blower fan discharging out of said air discharge, said series further including sections above and below the intermediate sections, one of the sections above the intermediate section andnone of the sections below said intermediate section being provided r with an air control louvered partition and with means for opening and closing the louvers in the partition each section in the series nesting detachably with an adjoining section whereby said sections are interchangeable to vary the height of the intermediate section in the Stack.

2. An air circulating unit according to claim 1 wherein one of the sections above and one of the sections below said intermediate section includes an air filter extending across the same positionable by interchanging the sections above and below said intermediate sections at different distances from the sections provided with a louvered partition above and below the intermediate section.

RALPI-I D. JENKINS.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,605,119 Lewis Nov. 2, 1926 1,858,024 Moore May 10, 1932 1,936,914 Pitt Nov. 28, 1933 1,995,667 Cano Mar. 26, 1935 2,135,461 Woolley Nov. 1, 1938 2,142,149 Replogle Jan. 3,'1939 v2,154,410 Polk Apr. 11, 1939 2,204,401 Butler June 11, 1940 2,282,373 Minkler et al May 12, 1942 2,322,904 Williams June 29, 1943 2,461,024 Baumgardner Feb. 8, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 20,284 Denmark June 28, 1915 190,940 Switzerland May 31, 1937 379,430 Great Britain Sept. 1, 1932 417,456 Great Britain Oct. 1, 1934 

